A military contractor has fired Tami Silicio, a Kuwait-based cargo worker whose photograph of flag-draped coffins of fallen U.S. soldiers was published in Sunday’s edition of The Seattle Times.

Silicio was let go yesterday for violating U.S. government and company regulations, said William Silva, president of Maytag Aircraft, the contractor that employed Silicio at Kuwait International Airport.

“I feel like I was hit in the chest with a steel bar and got my wind knocked out. I have to admit I liked my job, and I liked what I did,” Silicio said.

Her photograph, taken earlier this month, shows more than 20 flag-draped coffins in a cargo plane about to depart from Kuwait. Since 1991, the Pentagon has banned the media from taking pictures of caskets being returned to the United States.

There is something horribly wrong with this. Bodies come home on cargo flights and are scheduled to arrive at odd hours, in order to avoid media coverage. Wounded also come home at odd hours, ditto to avoid media coverage. This photo deserves to be seen by people everywhere. The caption reads: “The photographer said she hoped the image would help families understand the care with which fallen soldiers are returned home.” Well, families and everyone else will also understand that people are coming home from Iraq in aluminum crates, wrapped in flags and figuratively draped in patriotic drag. This doesn’t look like care and respect – it looks like a whole lot of dead cargo stretching into infinity.